Changes in peatland soil fauna biomass alter food web structure and function under warming and hydrological changes
Abstract
Short-term climate perturbations affect both predator and prey species that comprise soil communities, and alter carbon flux. I used a mesocosm experiment to model the effects of experimentally-imposed temperature and moisture conditions that simulate potential future conditions during climate perturbations, on peatland soil food web flux and soil carbon sequestration after three-weeks of experimentally imposed conditions, and then again after an additional three-week recovery under control conditions. I compared system resistance and resilience, and modelled carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) fluxes throughout the mesocosm experiment. There was a lack of resistance of the soil food web to perturbation shown by changes in total faunal abundance under imposed soil moisture treatments. System resistance and resilience are important concepts to understand as climate change threatens C storage in boreal peatlands, a globally significant C store.